Dust guard



July 17, 1934. E ARMSTRONG 1,966,577

DUST GUARD Filed March 18, 1952 A? l m WITNESSES-- INVENTOR m HIS ATTORNEY guard are joi'n'edtogether; 'For this purpose I prefer'to use the common sheet metal corru-" Patented July 17, 1934 PATENT oFFlcs DUST GUARD Erncst Armstrong, Camden, N. J.

'ApplicationMarch-m, 1932, Serial N,o. 599,666

9 Claims". ((1286-6) This invention relates to dust guards used in connection with car axles, and within railway journa'l'box'es. I

Dust guards, as commonly used, are positioned within a narrow pocket, next-to an outer wall of the journal box, and undergo considerable movement during the running of the train. I Dur-' ing suchi' movement; they have to withstandv strains that tend 'to distort them during their frictional jact ionfin contact'with the walls of the pocket, accompanying the transverse action of the axle, relative to the box.

' It is therefore one of, the objects of my in-' vention to providea construction of dust guard which shall withstand distorting strai'naby being flexibleand elastic for slightbending, particularly with respect to the plane of the dust guard, to be durable under such use, so that it will yield rather than crack or break under the distorting strains, and will quickly resume its normalfiat' shape, for freedom of movement, within the pocket it occupiea'a-ft'er theoccasion for the distorting strains has disappeared.

, Another object of rn'y invention is to provide as cheap and durable a form of dust guard as possible, which will also fulfill the above named object ,Such a dust guard,- I prefer to make up of'pieces of thin boardsof' woodor other fibrous material, of proper thickne ss, using scrap wood where it is available, to save-on the cost of the material, using such material exclusively for the dust guard, with the exception of the necessary fasteners, to hold. theparts" together, this reducing thedus't guard to "assimple afiforrn-as possible, consistent withits practical and'durable'fadaptability for its particular use;

A further object'is the selection prjsuc'h me -Q pensive joining pieces as'willafiord 'flexibilityf inall directions, where' the'partslon the dust gated fasteners, and arrange the piecesif wood is used, in 'positiontohave 'the'grain of'the wood run' tangential to, the curvature of the axle, or shaft 'jit comes' in contact'with', having each .piece of *woodthus arranged in its contact withIthe axle or, shaft, rather than have" esl i th W 'e u i l r S a t S face, so asto avoid, splitting the wood, and in addition, {to further strengthen thendustjguard; pieces as a unit l prefer to bind the parts to; gether at their periphery by a wire drawntight around'the iiu's't guardspreferably in a groove provided for it, having the twisted'ends of this narrow pocket of the-particular type of journal or bearing box for which'it is intended to fit."

binding wire pushed back into a pocket inthe wood, to be out of contact with the walls of the dust guard pocket, inthe journal or bearing box, ,1 r r r 7 With these and other objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in certain construction adapted to fulfilllithe above named objects. One embodiment of my invention is illustrated in'the drawing, its construction is explained and what I claim is set forth.

In the drawing, Figure 1- is a flat side elevation of a dust guard embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is an edge elevation of the dust guard shown in Figure 1, taken in the direction of o; the arrow 2, of Figure 1. In the figures, the body of the dust guard is shown to be made up ofthe square-ended piece of thin boards of wood, marked 10, opposite which isthe piece of wood marked '11,v having the grain of both pieces of wood, 10 and 11, run approximately parallel. Between the pieces 10 and 11,: and abutting the same, are the pieces of ,wood 12 and '13, the grain of each of these pieces running transverse to that of the pieces 10v and 11. The inner edge of each of these pieces -10,' ll, 12 and -13, ,is curved in its plane to form, as assembled, the circle of the opening 14,- which is made in'size to fit that part of the axle or shaft .of the car wheeL'upon which it rides, when positioned therewith, surrounding theuaxle or shaft andwithin the journal box; The-outer contour .ofthebo'dy of the dust guard is formed and proportioned'to fit' with'in the see At each of 'the'places where the-pieces 10, 11, l2and 13 abut one another, there is provided a corrugated sheet-metal fastener 15, embedded in -the' a'butting pieces, to be within the sur faces thereof andbe across the joint there'off fixing-them together; 'The'part of the-corru-' gated fastener 15, which crosses the abutting faces, of adjoining pieces, being of sheet linetal, affords, in the longitudinal direction of the ,fas

" tener, a fiexibilitythat permits the. adjoining pieces to have 'a slight movement jldn'gitudinal of theiriabutting edge faces, asthe'se pieces r e-" mainin thev same plane with ,one another, The corrugations,- in themselves, afford an angular movement of the fastener itself, within its own plane, thus permitting ;a slight;angular move- 7 ment about an axis which is the line of contact,- ofrthe faces. of.- tliesabuttrng pieces. ;-There is also permitted an angular movement of the pieces relative to one another, at the abutting edge faces thereof, in another place which passes through the line of abutment transverse to the place of the dust guard. But this latter movement would not be possible if more than one fastener were used to connect a single joint of abutting point edge faces. Considering the variety of angular movements possible with the corrugated fasteners used in joining the parts together it is evident that such fasteners are particularly suitable for the purpose used.

For additional security, I prefer to use a strong wire binder 16, positioned within a 138-: ripheral groove 17, to bind the parts together, at their periphery. Where this wire 16 crosses the joints, and is within a groove, it affords a slight movement of the adjoining pieces, in the direction of the length of the abutting edge faces, and also an angular movement of the adjoining pieces, as hingingupon the line of contact of the abutting edge faces thereof. On account of the penetrable flexibility of the wood used, any slight angular movement tending to move the adjoining pieces in opposite directions, where the wire crosses the joint between them, will be permitted. Therefore, even with the wire binder, 16, the complete unitary structure of such a dust guard, has an angular flexibility from the plane thereof, in all directions afforded by its particular jointed structure.

The ends 18, of. the wire 16, are twisted together after the wire 16 has been drawn tightly, to bind about the body of the dust guard. The twisted ends 18, of the wire are embedded in a pocket 19, in the line of the groove 1'7, to be wholly within the edges of the periphery of the dust guard, so that there will be no pro- 40 jecting wire parts to contact a wall of the dust guard pocket, within the journal box.

If the dust guard body is made up of a single sheet or board of wood or other fibrous material, with a binding wire 16, at its periphery, it will be strengthened against splitting. The same is true Where a laminated material of wood or other fibrous material is used, having a binding wire tightly drawn about its pe riphery.

While I have shown and described in detail parts which make up one embodiment of my invention, including the shape shown, changes therein, including a different shape, can be had, without departing from the'spirit and scope of my invention. I therefore wish to include all forms and changes'which come within the purview of the following'claims;

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A dust guard unit adapted for use in connection with a shaft entering a bearing box, to encircle the shaft therein, said dust guard unit being composed of material which has a longitudinally extending grain, said dust guard unit being constructed in sections, to have the grain of sections, disposed on opposite sides of the encircled shaft, run approximately parallel, and

to have, the remaining sections of said dust guard unit extend from oneto the other of said first mentioned sections, between the ends thereof and having the grain of the said remaining sections run transverse in directionto the grain of the first mentioned sections, all of said sec tions presenting an opening cut through the grain thereof and corresponding in size tothe diameter of the shaft.

2. A dust guard for an axle within a bear ing box, said dust guard comprising a plurality of fiat, wooden sections, the grain of the wood of two oppositely disposed sections running approximately parallel, and intermediate sections having the grain run transverse in direction to the grain of the first mentioned sections, yielding joints connecting the abutting edges of contiguous sections, the innermost edges of said sections being arched to come in contact with the circumferential surface of said axle.

3. A dust guard constructed in accordance with claim 2, and a binder about the periphery of the unit thus formed, adapted to hold all parts intact.

4. A dust guard constructed in accordance with claim 2., with a peripheral groove about said guard and a binder for the said sections, positioned within said groove, adapted to hold the parts intact.

5. A dust guard comprising a flat body, with a hole therethrough and adapted to fit a shaft entering a bearing box, said guard being co nstructed of a plurality of fiat pieces placedin edge abutment, having .all said pieces in one plane, the abutting edge faces of said pieces ex tending continuously from the fiat face on one side to the flat face on the opposite side of each fiat piece, elastic and flexible means extending across the abutting faces of adjoining flat pieces, said dust guard of said flat pieces, positioned in abutment all in the same plane, presenting a substantially flat face on one .s-ide,.made up of the fiat faces, of said flat pieces on that. side, and the fiat faces on the opposite side of said fiat pieces forming together. the opposite side of said dust guard.

6. A dust guard adapted for use around a shaft in a bearing box, said dust guard comprising a fiat body with a central opening therethrough, adapted to fit said shaft, said body being formed of a plurality of longitudinally fibrous and jointed members, positioned about said openingg in abutment with one another, at their edges to have the fibers of said, members individually tangential in direction, with respect to said central opening and joining devices connecting contiguous members in edge abutment, and affording by their structure, an angular flexibility. to said flat body, with re-l spect to the plane thereof. v,

'7. A dust guard made in accordance with claim 5, and a binder, about the peripheral. edge of said dust guard. V

8. A dust guard made .in accordance with claim 5, wherein the flexible means connecting said abutting pieces, consists of corrugated. sheet metal fasteners, embedded in the adjoining, and edgeabutting, flat pieces, and positioned across the abutting edges of .saidpiecesll 9. A dust guard adapted for use, around an axle in a journal box, said dust guard comprising a flat body with a central opening adapted to-fit said axle, a plurality of longitudinally fibrous and joined members forming saidbody,

and positioned about said opening, in abut-Q ment to one another, to have the directionof fibre of each member transverse to that of its 

